Quad · S · Bookshelf

S-1

Product description
A compact vented two-way from Quad's S line — a 100 mm woven-Kevlar bass-mid and a true-ribbon tweeter. The smallest S-series speaker, bringing ribbon treble to a small room or desktop at the line's entry price.

Performance — where it sits in the catalog

BassTrebleSensitivityEasy load
Bass reachTreble reachSensitivityEasy load
S-158 Hz20 kHz84 dB8 Ω
Median45 Hz25 kHz87 dB6 Ω
How to read this chart

Each axis spans the range the 448 bookshelves in the catalog actually cover, so equal distance means equal difference — and for cone area and the two frequencies, which are read as ratios, equal distance means equal ratio. The dashed inner ring is where the scale starts, not zero. Ranked within a class because a bookshelf measured against floorstanders is feeble on every axis for the single reason that it is a bookshelf. Cone area is summed from the drive units — no maker publishes it. Bass and treble reach are quoted to different tolerances and only 56% of the catalog says which, so read those two axes as approximate. The grey outline is the median of this speaker's own class, the 377 passive bookshelves — same type, same side of the active/passive line, which matters because the two halves are not the same product: the median active bookshelf carries 155 cm² of cone against the passive median's 219. Median rather than mean, because a handful of very large cabinets would drag a mean above most of the class it claims to describe. Not shown: Cone area — the maker publishes no figure.

Units
TypeBookshelf
HiFi ladder position#61 of 448 bookshelf
PowerPassive
Height285 mm
Width156 mm
Depth240 mm
Footprint374 cm²
Space taken10.7 L
Weight5.2 kg
EnclosureBass reflex, rear port
Drivers1× tweeter (ribbon), 1× 100 mm mid-bass (woven Kevlar cone)
Crossover frequency3200 Hz
Frequency response58–20000 Hz
Sensitivity84 dB
Impedance8 Ω (min 4.2 Ω)
Recommended amp25–150 W
MAP (USD)$799 / pair
Where to buyCheck availability ↗
Manufacturerquad-hifi.co.uk ↗
Product pageOpen product page ↗

Suggested TrueScale comparisons

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